The Duke case: Will the Times Apologize?

DUKE CASE: WILL THE TIMES APOLOGIZE? April 12, 2007 --

REVERSE the races, change the sport, and you have the Kobe Bryant "rape" hoax all over again.

It frightens me that, in this day and age, three demonstrably innocent men can be dragged into the public square in chains and be unjustly accused, tried and convicted in the media - forcibly lynched - for a rape that never happened.

There are many victims in the case of the guiltless Duke lacrosse players. And many more perpetrators who, through wishful thinking, greed, arrogance or lunacy, kept this case going long after the accused boys should have received a heartfelt apology.

But the biggest losers may be the ones you'll never hear about. These are the genuine victims of sexual assault: women who don't fabricate tales of brutality, or seek out the richest, whitest men to falsely accuse of forcing them into sex.

Who will believe a rape victim now?

Lakers guard Bryant was wrongly accused of raping a disappointed and willing sex partner; the Duke boys were victimized by a stripper who, for reasons that exist mainly in her head, decided that crying "Rape!" was easier than getting a day job.

But the Duke case goes far beyond the Bryant debacle. It features a "rogue prosecutor" - as ex-Durham DA Mike Nifong was called yesterday - who visibily salivated at the notion of taking down the boys.

Truth be damned.

It also benefited from a lynch culture at Duke, where 88 professors signed an ad vowing to "turn up the volume" against the falsely accused men.

Due process be damned.

Worst of all, this story so neatly fit the radical agenda of our "newspaper of record," The New York Times, that the paper disgustingly advanced the hoax on its front page, long after other media outlets had backed off.

In a case of "all the lies fit to print," the paper on Aug. 25 affected an air of Timesian authority in a damning article, spoon-fed by DA Nifong. It tried to put to rest some of the alarming inconsistencies in the accuser's story about the night she was "attacked."

"While there are big weaknesses in Mr. Nifong's case, there is also a body of evidence to support his decision to take the matter to a jury," quoth the Times. And, "The full files, reviewed by The New York Times, contain evidence stronger than that highlighted by the defense."

Will the Times make reparations now?

But there is no repairing three damaged lives.

And no way to restore the good names of genuine rape victims, who will never get the undivided attention of a crew of characters who don't give a damn about women, men or the truth.